Millet is a grain that has been grown for thousands of years. It can be found at many points starting in early history throughout the world. From China to Egypt to India to Switzerland, millet has been used for food, even since Biblical times.
Many countries still rely on millet for their food needs, such as India and Africa. For some countries millet is known as a staple food, meaning that people depend on it as a main source of food. Other countries like the U.S. mainly use millet for livestock feed. Millet is the sixth most important grain worldwide. Does this Spark an idea?
History
The most far back anyone has gotten in discovering the origins of millet is Africa 4,000 years ago. In the Stone Age (2.5 million to 2400 B.C.) in Switzerland evidence of people growing millet has been found. It is even thought that millet was a staple in China before rice, around 2700 B.C. Thousands of years later in 1875 millet was introduced to the U.S.
Types
There are four main types of millet grown commercially worldwide: foxtail, pearl, finger and proso millet. Pearl millet is the main millet grown for human consumption, and foxtail millet was the millet used in ancient China.
Growers will also sometimes grow other types not used as much as the four. These are browntop, kodo, guinea, little and barnyard millet. Outside of these types there are many other types of millet not used worldwide.
Identification
The appearance of millet resembles maize. Most types of millet have a rough stem and leaves that look like grass. The seeds grow on a cone-like flower, called a panicle.
The seeds in the hull of the millet look like small yellow balls. The seeds have a spot where they connected to the panicle.
Millet is a quick growing annual. A planted seed can be ready to harvest in two months and a week.
Benefits
Millet can grow in poor soil and in arid climates. This is a large benefit for countries that have such climates as it can be difficult to grow other kinds of crops. Millet is easier to grow also because it is more insect-resistant.
There is much nutrition in millet. It contains niacin, riboflavin (B2), thiamin (B1), magnesium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin E, lecithin and methionine. Millet also has a fair amount of protein (15%).
Because it doesn't form acid when digesting, millet is easy to digest. It is thought to be the most non-allergenic grains and the most digestible.
Features
Millet has many different culinary uses. It can be used as a cereal, in soup, for alcohol, flour for bread and many other culturally unique dishes. Some of these dishes are porridge mixed with milk that comes from Russia, flatbread from India and porridge mixed with squash, yams or beans from China. Near the Himalayas a people called the Hunza make dense bread using millet flour.
The stalks of millet have several uses, which makes millet a multi-purpose grain. They can be used as construction material and as bedding for animals.
Warning
An iodine-inhibiting substance can be found in millet. In massive amounts, as when it's a staple, millet can cause the thyroid to swell due to a lack of iodine. But this only happens when millet supplants other nutritive foods.
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